Baseboard type electric wall heater



Aug. 30, 1955 Filed Oct. 26

T. W. GLYNN BASEBOARD TYPE ELECTRIC WALL HEATER 2 Sheets-Sheet l I H i gQ 2 INVENTOR. \l fiiobb e w c-i-Lwwv @10 Wu), 0 Qt 4.

Aug. 30, 1955 T. w. GLYNN BASEBOARD TYPE ELECTRIC WALL HEATER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 2, 1954 WM mun & m H 2 Pa w a, Wm H E -Jw nINN \{Ifm w\ H q M? H H m 2 AAW WJ mg w EH1 Nf/ r, N T Q 3 v m Q QUnited States Patent BASEBOARD TYPE ELECTRIC WALL HEATER Theodore W.Glynn, Kingsport, Tenn., assignor to Blue Ridge Glass Corporation,Kingsport, Tenn., a corporation of New York Application October 26,1954, Serial No. 464,699 Claims. (Cl. 219-34) This invention relates toelectric heaters designed to be mounted in the baseboards of rooms, andmore particularly to such a heater in which the resistance element ismounted on a glass plate.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a baseboard typeelectric wall heater which can have high wattage for its size, which islow enough to fit in most baseboards, which is relatively simple andinexpensive in construction, and which is strong and durable.

In accordance with this invention, the frame of the heater is formedprincipally from a small I-beam of any desired length that has upper andlower flanges connected by a vertical web. A vertical glass heater plateis mounted between the flanges in front of the web and is provided onits rear surface with an electric resistance heating element. Behind theweb of the beam is a heatbarrier panel that is mounted between theflanges of the beam. Preferably, the panel has a body of thermalinsulating material and a bright front face to reflect heat forward. Theglass heater plate may be held in place by facing members engaging thefront surface of its ends, and by resilient members engaging the rearsurface of the ends. It is preferred to mount a resilient sealing stripbetween the top of the heat-barrier panel and the adjacent flange of theI-beam, the strip projecting behind the beam to engage the wall in orderto seal the space between the flange and wall so that streaking of thewall by rising air currents will be minimized.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a front view of my baseboard heater mounted in a wall;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the heater with the central portionbroken away and with one end of the heater plate broken away;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line IVIV of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the frame of the heater is constructed from asmall I-beam 1, such as a seven inch junior beam 2 to the opposite endsof which metal plates are welded. These plates are flush with the frontand top of the beam, but project below it about three-fourths of an inchto raise the bottom of the beam to the top of the usual quarter roundaround the wall of a room. The frame can be made any desired length bysimply using an I-beam section of that length. As shown in Fig. l, theframe is adapted to be set into a baseboard 3 in a gap cut therein, andthe quarter round 4 that otherwise would extend along the baseboardwhere the frame is located is moved forward and secured to the floor atthe base of the frame. Another quarter round 6 may be fastened to thewall 7 along the top of the frame to provide a finished appearance.

Mounted in the front of the frame; that is, between the upper and lowerflanges in front of its web 8, is a vertical glass heater plate 9.Applied to the back of this plate in a well-known manner is anelectrical resistance heating element 10 (Fig. 3) in the form of analuminum or aluminum alloy strip. The height of the plate is less thanthe distance between the beam flanges, and the plate is centered betweenthem by metal brackets 11 so that air can circulate up between the plateand the web of the beam. There is a bracket 11 at each corner of theplate and it has a horizontal portion that extends away from web 8forward across the adjoining flange and adjacent edge of the heaterplate. Extending vertically from the back of each bracket towards theother bracket is a lug 12, through which screws 13 extend that fastenthe bracket to the web. In the front of each bracket there is a recessin which there is a resilient block 14 made of silicone or neoprene orother suitable rubberlike material. These blocks at the four corners ofthe glass plate engage its rear surface and space it from the brackets.The plate is held in position and pressed tightly against the resilientblocks to compress them slightly, by means of vertical facing strips 16which extend across the front of the plate at its opposite ends. Theends of the strips overlie the front edges of the beam flanges. Thestrips are removably mounted in place by means of screws 17 that extendinto the forwardly projecting portions of the brackets above and belowthe glass plate.

The wires 18 that connect the electric heating element into an electriccircuit extend back through holes in the web of the beam near itsopposite ends. Behind one of these holes 19 (Fig. 2) there is arectangular metal plate 21 that has one edge welded to a vertical anglebar 22 (Fig. 3) which is welded to the adjacent end plate 2 of theframe. A similar angle bar 23 is welded to the end plate at the oppositeend of the frame. Secured to the back of the rectangular plate is ajunction box 24, and the plate is provided with a circular openinggiving access to the box. This opening normally is closed by a circularlid 26. The web in front of this lid is provided with another circularopening that normally is closed by a square cover 27. The wires 18 fromthe heating element can be connected with an outside circuit in thejunction box.

To prevent too much heat from the heater plate being dissipated back ofthe heater, where it may overheat the wall, a heat barrier is placed inthe back of the frame. This barrier is a panel 30 disposed between theupper and lower flanges of the I-beam. The panel is made of thermalinsulating material, such as Rocklath, and it is held in place by screws31 extending through it and into the angle bars 22 and 23 at theopposite ends of the frame. The panel is provided with an openingthrough which the junction box extends. The efficiency of the heater isimproved if the front surface of the panel has a brief reflectingsurface 32 (Fig. 4). One way of producing such a surface is to cover thepanel with aluminum foil.

To prevent heat from rising between the back of the heater and the wall,which would greatly increase the likelihood of wall streaking, aresilient sealing strip 33 projects from the back of the frame at thetop. This strip extends the full distance between the end plates of theframe and preferably is provided in its bottom with a recess thatreceives the top of the insulating panel to hold the strip in placeagainst the upper flange of the frame. When the heater is mounted inplace the back of the sealing strip is pressed against the wall as shownin Fig. 4.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims,

the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specificallyillustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A baseboard type electric wall heater, comprising an I-beam havingupper and lower by a vertical web, a vertical glass heater plate mountedbetween said flanges in front of said web and provided on its rearsurface with an electrical resistance heating element, and a heatbarrier panel mounted between said flanges behind the web.

2. A heater in accordance with claim 1, including resilient membersengaging the rear surfaceof the ends of said plate, and facing membersengaging the front surface of the plate ends and pressing the plateagainst said resilient members.

3-. A heater in accordance with claim 1, including brackets secured tothe I-beam between the corners of said plate and said web, resilientblocks supported by the brackets in engagement with the rear surface ofthe plate, and vertical facing strips engaging the front surface of theends of the plate and secured to said brackets to press the plateagainst said blocks.

4. A heater in accordance with claim 1, in which said panel has a bodymade of thermal insulating material and a bright reflecting frontsurface.

5. A heater in accordance with claim 1, including vertical end platescovering the opposite ends of said I-beam and projecting below it tospace it from the floor.

6. A heater in accordance with claim 1, including elecflanges connectedtric wires connected with said heating element, said web being providedwith holes through which the wires extend.

7. A heater in accordance with claim 1, including a resilient sealingstrip mounted between the top of said panel and the adjacent flange ofthe I-beam, said strip projecting behind the I-beam and being adapted toengage a wall to seal the space between said flange and wall.

8. A baseboard type electric wall heater, comprising an I-beam havingupper and lower flanges connected by a vertical web, a vertical glassheater plate mounted between said flanges in front of said web andprovided on its rear surface with an electrical resistance heatingelement, the plate being spaced from said flanges, brackets secured tosaid web at the corners of'said plate and having portions projectingabove and below the plate, vertical facing strips extending across thefront of the ends of the plate, fastening member-s securing said stripsto the front of said projecting portions of the brackets, and resilientmembers compressedbetween the back of the plate and said brackets andpressing the plate against said strips.

9; A heater inaccordance with claim 8, in which said resilient membersare rubber-like blocks mounted in recesses in said brackets.

10. A heater in accordance. with claim 8, in which said projecting.portions of the lower brackets extend forward beneath the bottom ofsaidplate and support it.

No references cited.

